WAV to AIF Converter

How to Convert WAV to AIF Online

1. Upload Your WAV File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select.wav audio. Recordings from Audacity, Ableton, FL Studio, Reaper, field recorders, and Windows-native exports all work. Batch conversion is supported — drop a whole album or a session folder in one pass.
2. Pick Audio Channel: Default is Original (preserves the source's mono/stereo layout). Force Mono to collapse stereo to a single channel for voice or speech recordings, or force Stereo to ensure two-channel output for music delivery.
3. Set Audio Sample Rate (Optional): Default is Original. Override only when you need a target rate — 44100 Hz (CD), 48000 Hz (broadcast / video), 24000 / 16000 / 12000 / 8000 Hz (telephony or speech). Resampling alters the audio data; if you only need the format conversion, leave this on Original.
4. Trim and Convert: Optionally enter a start time and duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss format. Click Convert. Files process on our servers and download individually or as a ZIP — no sign-up, no watermark. Output is uncompressed PCM 16-bit big-endian (PCM_S16BE), the standard AIFF profile.

Why Convert WAV to AIF?

WAV (Microsoft / IBM, 1991) and AIFF (Apple / Electronic Arts, 1988) are the two dominant uncompressed PCM audio containers. Both are lossless. Both store the same audio samples. The difference is structural: WAV is a RIFF container with little-endian byte order (intended for x86); AIFF is an IFF container with big-endian byte order (intended for Motorola 68000 / early Macintosh). For practical purposes the audio is unchanged — converting WAV to AIF rewrites the PCM samples from little-endian to big-endian byte order, so the file isn't byte-for-byte identical, but every sample value is preserved and there's no quality change. The.aif extension is just the 3-character variant of.aiff used historically on Windows; macOS and pro audio tools treat.aif and.aiff as the same format.

• Native handling in Logic Pro and GarageBand — AIFF is Apple's default uncompressed format, and Logic Pro and GarageBand record to AIFF by default. Importing AIF instead of WAV avoids any container translation step inside the DAW's project audio browser.
• Final Cut Pro and iMovie audio tracks — Final Cut Pro accepts both, but AIFF is the historical Mac-native choice and integrates cleanly with FCP's audio metadata handling.
• Apple-ecosystem delivery — When sending stems to a Mac-only studio, an Apple-based mastering engineer, or an iOS app pipeline,.aif is often the requested deliverable.
• CD-quality archival on Mac — AIFF stores 16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo at 10 MB per minute (1411 kbps), bit-perfect, with rich metadata chunks (Name, Author, Copyright, Annotation, Comment) that survive better in macOS Finder than WAV's RIFF INFO tags.
• Sample libraries and instrument packs — Many Apple-ecosystem sample libraries (EXS24, Sampler, Logic instrument packs) ship as AIFF; matching that format keeps a library consistent.
• Removing Broadcast WAV (BWF) timecode chunks — Field-recorder WAVs often carry BWF timecode metadata that some downstream tools mishandle; converting to AIFF strips the BWF chunks and produces a clean PCM file. Only do this if you do not need to preserve timecode — AIFF cannot carry BWF timecode.

WAV vs AIFF — Format Comparison

Sample Rate and Channel Quick Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Will converting WAV to AIF change audio quality?

No. Both formats store uncompressed PCM samples; the byte order is rewritten from little-endian to big-endian and the container header changes, but no sample value is altered. If you leave sample rate and channels on Original, the output holds the same audio samples as the source. Decode both files and run a phase-inversion null test and you will get silence. The only way the audio changes is if you deliberately resample (e.g., 48000 to 44100 Hz) or downmix (Stereo to Mono).

Are.aif and.aiff the same file?

Yes. AIF is just the 3-character version of AIFF, kept historically for compatibility with Windows file-extension conventions. The bytes inside are identical. macOS, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro, QuickTime, VLC, ffmpeg, and Audacity all treat.aif and.aiff as the same format. AIFF-C (.aifc) is the different one — it adds optional compression codecs (μ-law, A-law, ADPCM) and uses a different chunk signature.

What's the difference between AIFF and AIFF-C / sowt?

Standard AIFF stores audio as big-endian PCM. AIFF-C ("AIFF-Compressed") is a 1991 extension that adds compression codecs and a "sowt" (literally "twos" reversed) profile that holds little-endian PCM. Modern macOS and Logic Pro often write AIFF-C/sowt internally but label the file as AIFF. This page outputs standard big-endian PCM (PCM_S16BE) — the most universally compatible AIFF profile.

Will Broadcast WAV (BWF) timecode metadata transfer to AIFF?

No. Broadcast WAV adds a bext chunk for timecode that AIFF does not have an equivalent for. Converting BWF to AIFF strips the timecode. If you need timecode to survive, keep the file as BWF/WAV or use a format like CAF that preserves it. If you don't care about timecode (e.g., music masters, sample-pack delivery), conversion to AIFF is fine.

Why would a Mac studio ask for AIFF instead of WAV?

Three reasons: (1) Logic Pro and GarageBand record AIFF by default, so the project graph already speaks AIFF natively. (2) AIFF metadata chunks are richer and more cleanly handled by macOS Finder and Apple pro apps than WAV's RIFF INFO. (3) Historically, sample libraries and instrument packs in the Apple ecosystem ship as AIFF, so studios standardise on it. Sonically there is no advantage — it's a workflow and pipeline preference.

Can I batch convert an entire WAV album or session?

Yes. Drop in every track at once. Each file converts independently on our servers and downloads as separate AIFs or one combined ZIP. Settings (channel, sample rate, trim) can apply uniformly across the batch — the typical case when prepping an album for delivery to a Mac mastering engineer.

Should I downmix stereo to mono?

Only if the source is genuinely mono content (single-mic voice recording, podcast, audiobook chapter). Downmixing real stereo music to mono collapses the stereo image and is destructive. For music masters always keep Stereo. For voice-only recordings, Mono cuts file size by half with no quality loss for speech.

Will the AIFF be playable on Windows?

Yes. Windows Media Player has supported AIFF since Windows 7, and any modern audio app on Windows (VLC, foobar2000, Audacity, Reaper, Audition) reads AIFF natively. The "Windows native" bias of WAV is historical — the formats are interchangeable on every modern OS.

What's the maximum sample rate and bit depth I can output?

This page outputs PCM 16-bit big-endian (PCM_S16BE) — 16 bits per sample, the universal AIFF profile that every player understands. AIFF as a format supports up to 32-bit and arbitrary sample rates, but for a clean WAV→AIF conversion, 16-bit is the safe default. If you need 24-bit or 32-bit float for mastering, render that bit depth from your DAW directly. For other directions, see AIFF to WAV, WAV to MP3, or WAV to FLAC.